The Connecticut Company
The Connecticut Company (also known as ConnCo) was a streetcar and bus operator in Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford, Connecticut. Originally it operated in many other parts of the state as well, and from 1920 to 1936 it operated nearly all local railways and buses within the state. Until 1964 it was controlled by the , which used it as a means to control the various local streetcar operations. The company also operated some intercity operations, such as New Haven-Bridgeport, coordinated with Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company (CR&L), exchanging transfers with the latter's routes in cities where CR&L provided local service. The Connecticut Co. was originally incorportated in 1901 as Thompson Tramway Co. In 1902 it was renamed Worcester & Connecticut Eastern Railway Co. Two years later it was renamed Consolidated Railway Co. The name Connecticut Co. was adopted in 1907. In the period from 1905 to 1906 it accumulated leases on all of CR&L's lines, but in 1936, because of failure to keep up lease payments, ConnCo was forced to allow CR&L to reclaim its properties. However, from 1913 to 1920, operations in New London and Norwich were leased to the Shore Line Electric Railway Co. so that during that period there was the complication of ConnCo operating lines in CR&L territory while some of its own lines were operated by Shore Line. ConnCo service in Torrington (formerly the Torrington & Winchester Street Railway) ceased in 1929, when streetcars were abandoned wothout bus replacements. ConnCo's operations in its remaining cities temporarily ceased in November, 1972, were revived in March 1973 and continued with a subsidy from the State until 1976, when they ultimately were replaced by service provided by Connecticut Transit. Purchases of other companies *As Worcester & Connecticut Eastern Railway Co. the company bought the following operations: **Peoples Tramway Co., in 1902. *As Consolidated Railway Co. the company bought the following operations: **Fair Haven & Westville Railroad (New Haven), in 1904. **Greenwich Tramway Co., in 1904. **Hartford Street Railway, in 1904. **Meriden Electric Railroad, in 1904. **Middletown Street Railway, in 1904. **Montville Street Railway, in 1904. **New London Street Railway, in 1904. **Norwich Street Railway, in 1904. **Stamford Street Railway, in 1904. **Branford Lighting & Water Co., in 1905. **Suffield Street Railway (Hartford), in 1905. **Willimantic Traction Company, in 1905. **Hartford Manchester & Rockville Tramway Co., in 1906. **Torrington & Winchester Street Railway, in 1906. *As The Connecticut Co. the company bought the following operations: **Farmington Street Railway (Hartford), in 1909. Changes from streetcar to bus operation The last streetcars in each division were replaced by buses as shown in the following table: Division Year last streetcar was replaced by buses Hartford 1941 Meriden 1931 Middletown 1930 New Haven 1948 New London 1934 Norwalk (operated for CR&L under lease) 1935 Norwich 1936 Stamford 1933 Divisions sold to other companies prior to 1976 In 1959 the Meriden and Middletown divisions were sold to H & W Transit Company. H&W failed in 1967 and ConnCo resumed service in Meriden (but not Middletown) until 1968, when the operation was taken over by Joseph H. McMahon Company. In 1961 the New London division was sold to Thames Valley Transit, Inc.